Fabrizio De André, the revered Italian singer/songwriter, created a deep and enduring body of work over the course of his career from the 1960s through the 1990s. With these translations I have tried to render his words into an English that reads naturally without straying too far from the Italian. The translations decipher De André's lyrics without trying to preserve rhyme schemes or to make the resulting English lyric work with the melody of the song.

Rimini is a famous Italian seaside resort and tourist destination, and De André said it was the emblem of the album: a place where during summer one casts off one's everyday experience and for a period of time enters into a mirage of consumerism and of feeling well-off, a place where the lower middle class can emulate the upper middle class and feel like somebody. In the song "Rimini," an old woman (speaking to the singer at Harry's Bar in Venice) recounts a dream-like past where she was constrained as a young girl in Rimini to have an abortion against her will. She spins tales of how her lover might have died and of her meeting with Christopher Columbus. A parallel is drawn between the destruction and subjugation of the New World under a Catholic king and the persecution of the young Teresa for her love affair under the hard rules of propriety in Catholic Italian lower middle class society.

Teresa has dry eyes,
she looks out to sea.
For her, daughter of pirates,
I think it’s normal.
Teresa speaks little,
has chapped lips,
she indicates to me a lost love
in Rimini, in the summer.

She says he was burned in the plaza
by the Holy Inquisition,
maybe lost in Cuba
in the revolution,
or in the Port of New York
in the witch hunt,
or in no place at all,
but no one believes her.

Chorus: Rimini, Rimini

And Columbus calls her
from his stretcher.
She removes the handcuffs from his wrists,
folds back his sheets.
“For a sad Catholic King,” he tells her,
“I invented a kingdom,
and he butchered it
on a wooden cross.

“And two errors I made,
two errors of wisdom:
aborting America
and then looking at her kindly.
But you who are men
under the wind and the sails,
don’t give away promised lands
to those who won't maintain them.”

Chorus: Rimini, Rimini

Now Teresa is at Harry’s Bar,
she looks out to the sea.
For her, daughter of drygrocers,
I think it’s normal.
She carries a razorblade hung from her neck,
she’s an old woman of a hundred years.
I knew little about her,
but it seems like she's not foolin'.

“And I committed an error,” she says,
“an error of wisdom:
aborting the son of the lifeguard
and then looking at him with tenderness.
But you who are in Rimini
amid gelatos and flags,
don’t place more bets
on the drygrocer's daughter.”

Rimini grew out of De André's disappointments with the political events of the previous couple of years. In close collaboration with Massimo Bubola, a young 24-year-old who had just released his first album, De André explored several social and political themes, including abortion, homosexuality, and how the petite bourgeoisie attempted to move into the ranks of the powerful and rise above the political and social turmoil of the times. The music has more influence from American rock and pop music than previous albums, and includes his first forays into ethnic music, which will eventually come to full fruition in his masterpiece album Crêuza de mä.

De Andrè and Bubola weave a story of a young girl who falls in love with an American pilot into strands of other references to pop songs (Angiolina, Madamadorè) and films ("a policeman fell in love with her" references Pane, amore e fantasia, for example).

There’s a woman who sews the wheat,
turn the card over, you’ll see a peasant,
a peasant who tills the soil,
turn the card over, there comes a war,
for the war there are no more soldiers,
barefoot, they’ve all fled.

Angiolina walks, she walks
in her blue shoes.
A policeman charmed her,
turn the card over and he’s no longer there.
A policeman did charm her,
turn the card over and he's no longer there.

There’s a boy who climbs over a gate,
he pilfers cherries and bird feathers,
he throws stones and has no sorrows,
turn the card over, there's the Jack of Hearts,
Jack of Hearts who's a flash in the pan,
turn the card over, the rooster awakens.

Angiolina at six in the morning
weaves some nettle leaves into her hair.
She has a necklace of peach stones
that she turns three times 'round her fingers.
She has a necklace of peach stones,
she counts it three times between her fingers.

My mother has a mill and an unfaithful son,
she sweetens his nose with an apple pie.
My mother and the mill were both born laughing,
turn the card over there’s a blond pilot,
a blond pilot, tops of silk,
cap of fox fur, smile of an athlete.

Angiolina seated in the kitchen,
who cries, who eats a mulberry salad.
A young foreign boy has a disc of an orchestra
that spins fast, that speaks of love.
A young foreign boy has a disc of an orchestra
that spins and spins, that speaks of love.

Madame Dorè lost six daughters
midst the bars of the port and its allures.
Madame Dorè knows the stink of a cat,
turn the card over and she pays the ransom,
she pays the ransom with the bags under her eyes,
full of photos of dreams interrupted.

Angiolina is cutting up magazines,
dressed as a bride, of victory she sings.
She calls forth her memories with their names,
turn the card over and it ends in glory.
She calls forth her memories with their names,
turn the card over and it ends in glory.

Rimini grew out of De André's disappointments with the political events of the previous couple of years. In close collaboration with Massimo Bubola, a young 24-year-old who had just released his first album, De André explored several social and political themes, including abortion, homosexuality, and how the petite bourgeoisie attempted to move into the ranks of the powerful and rise above the political and social turmoil of the times. The music has more influence from American rock and pop music than previous albums, and includes his first forays into ethnic music, which will eventually come to full fruition in his masterpiece album Crêuza de mä.

When I was little
I used to fall in love with everything.
I used to run after the dogs,
and from March to February
my grandpa kept a watch
over the movement of horses
and of oxen,
over my business
and over your business.

And in the god of the English
don't ever believe.

And when I was 200 moons old -
and maybe that's
a few too many -
I robbed my first horse
and they made me a man.
I changed my name
to “Tail-of-the-Wolf.”
I exchanged my pony
for a silent horse.

And in their losing god
don't ever believe.

And it was in the night
of the long star
with the tail
that we found my grandpa
crucified on the cross,
crucified with forks
that are used at meals.
He was dirty and cleaned
of blood and cream.

And in their greedy god
don't ever believe.

And maybe I was 18
and no longer stank
like a snake,
I owned a rod,
a hat and a sling,
and one gala night
with a pointed rock
I killed a tuxedo
and robbed it from him.

And in the god of La Scala
don't ever believe.

Then we returned to Brianza
for the opening
of the buffalo hunt.
They made us take
a breath and urine test.
He explained to us the workings,
an Andalusian poet.
“For the buffalo hunt,” he said,
“the number is closed.”

And in a god of happy endings
don't ever believe.

And I was already old
when near Rome,
at Little Big Horn,
General Short-Hair
spoke to us at the university
about the blue-suited brothers
who buried the hatchets.
But we didn’t smoke with him,
he didn’t come in peace.

And in a work-your-ass-off god
don't ever believe.

And now that I burned
twenty sons on my grooms bed,
that I unloaded my rage
on a sound stage,
that I learned to fish
with hand grenades,
that they sculpted me in tears
on Trajan’s Arch,
with a glass spoon
I dig around in my history.
But I’m striking a bit at random
because I have no memory anymore.

And in a god, and in a god,
and in a god, and in a god,
and in an out-of-breath god,
don’t ever believe.

Rimini grew out of De André's disappointments with the political events of the previous couple of years. In close collaboration with Massimo Bubola, a young 24-year-old who had just released his first album, De André explored several social and political themes, including abortion, homosexuality, and how the petite bourgeoisie attempted to move into the ranks of the powerful and rise above the political and social turmoil of the times. The music has more influence from American rock and pop music than previous albums, and includes his first forays into ethnic music, which will eventually come to full fruition in his masterpiece album Crêuza de mä.

"Andrea" is both an anti-war song and a statement of solidarity with and acceptance of gays, as the song is about the love between two men (Andrea is a man's name in Italian). The setting for the song is World War I, which can be deduced because intense battles occurred on the ground in the mountains of Trent during WWI, whereas in WWII Trent suffered bombing from the air by the Germans toward the end of the war.

Andrea got lost,
he got lost and doesn't know how to return.
Andrea got lost,
he got lost and doesn't know how to return.
Andrea used to have
a love, black curly hair,
Andrea used to have
a sorrow, black curly hair.

It was written on a page
that he'd died on the flag.
It was written and the signature
was in gold, it was signed by the king:
killed in the mountains
of Trent by machine gun fire,
killed in the mountains
of Trent by machine gun fire.

Forest-colored eyes,
peasant of the realm, French profile.
Forest-colored eyes,
soldier of the realm, French profile.
And Andrea lost him,
he lost his love, the pearl most rare.
And Andrea has in his mouth,
he has in his mouth a sorrow, the darkest pearl.

Andrea was plucking,
he was gathering violets at the edges of a well.
Andrea was throwing
black ringlets in the circle of the well.
The bucket said to him,
it said, “Sir, the well is deep,
deeper than the depth
of the eyes of the Night of Tears.”

He said, “It’s enough for me,
it's good enough that it’s deeper than I am.”
He said, “It’s enough for me,
it's good enough that it’s deeper than I am.”

Rimini grew out of De André's disappointments with the political events of the previous couple of years. In close collaboration with Massimo Bubola, a young 24-year-old who had just released his first album, De André explored several social and political themes, including abortion, homosexuality, and how the petite bourgeoisie attempted to move into the ranks of the powerful and rise above the political and social turmoil of the times. The music has more influence from American rock and pop music than previous albums, and includes his first forays into ethnic music, which will eventually come to full fruition in his masterpiece album Crêuza de mä.

During the making of Rimini, De Andrè and Bubola listened to Dylan's Desire album a lot, and De André considered it one of the best of Dylan's releases. Their translation is fairly faithful to the original; the Spanish choruses are rendered in Neapolitan dialect.

Hot chili peppers in the blistering sun,
dust on my face and my hat.
Me and Magdalena off to the west,
we’ve opened our eyes beyond the gate.

I gave my guitar to the baker’s son
for a pizza and a rifle.
I’ll buy it back along the trail
and I’ll play for Magdalena at dusk.

Don’t cry, Magdalena, God will watch over us
and soon we’ll arrive in Durango.
Hold me, Magdalena, this desert will end,
you’ll be able to dance the fandango.

After the Aztec temples and ruins,
the first star on the Rio Grande.
At night I dream of the bell-tower
and the neck of Ramon filled with blood.

Was it just me at the cantina
to squeeze the trigger?
Come, my Magdalena, let’s fly away,
the dog barks, “What’s done is done.”

Don’t cry, Magdalena, God will watch over us
and soon we’ll arrive in Durango.
Hold me, Magdalena, this desert will end,
you’ll be able to dance the fandango.

At the bullfight with ice-cold tequila
we’ll see the torero touch the sky
in the shadow of the ancient grandstand
where Villa applauded the rodeo.

The priest will pray for my pardon,
he’ll welcome us in the mission church.
I'll wear new boots and an earring of gold,
and under the veil you’ll take Communion.

The way is long but I see the end,
we’ll arrive for the dance
and God will appear there on the hill
with his lizardy emerald eyes.

Don’t cry, Magdalena, God will watch over us
and soon we’ll arrive in Durango.
Hold me, Magdalena, this desert will end,
you’ll be able to dance the fandango.

What is the blast that I heard?
I have a hot pain in my back.
Sit here, hold your breath,
maybe I wasn’t too clever.

Thin Magdalena, take my rifle,
look where the flash of light came from.
Aim at it well, try to shoot it,
we may not see Durango no more.

Don’t cry, Magdalena, God will watch over us
and soon we’ll arrive in Durango.
Hold me, Magdalena, this desert will end,
you’ll be able to dance the fandango.

Rimini grew out of De André's disappointments with the political events of the previous couple of years. In close collaboration with Massimo Bubola, a young 24-year-old who had just released his first album, De André explored several social and political themes, including abortion, homosexuality, and how the petite bourgeoisie attempted to move into the ranks of the powerful and rise above the political and social turmoil of the times. The music has more influence from American rock and pop music than previous albums, and includes his first forays into ethnic music, which will eventually come to full fruition in his masterpiece album Crêuza de mä.

"Sally" is the fable of a boy who leaves home to discover the world. Like "Volta la carta," the song has as a point of take-off a nursery rhyme, English in this case:

My mother said that I never should
Play with the gypsies in the wood,
The wood was dark; the grass was green;
In came Sally with a tambourine.
I went to the sea - no ship to get across;
I paid ten shillings for a blind white horse;
I up on his back and was off in a crack,
Sally, tell my mother I shall never come back.

My mother told me, “You shouldn’t play
with the Gypsies in the woods.”
My mother told me, “You shouldn’t play
with the Gypsies in the woods.”

But the woods were dark, the grass already green,
there came Sally with a tambourine.
But the woods were dark, the grass already tall,
tell my mother I’m not coming back.

I headed off to the sea without boats for crossing,
I spent a hundred lira for a little golden fish.
I headed off to the sea without boats for crossing,
I spent a hundred lira for a little blind fish.

I climbed on its back and disappeared in a trice,
go tell Sally that I won’t return.
I climbed on its back and disappeared in an instant,
go tell my mother that I won’t return.

Near the city I found Pilar of the sea,
with two drops of heroin she put her heart to sleep.
Near the caravans I visited Pilar of the apple trees,
mouth spotted with blueberry, a knife between her breasts.

I woke up in the oak tree, the assassin had fled,
tell the little fish that I won’t return.
I looked at myself in the pond,
the assassin had already washed,
tell my mother that I won’t return.

Seated under a bridge the king of mice sniffed himself,
on the road his young dolls burned tires.
Stretched out under a bridge the king of mice adored himself,
on the road his young dolls solicited gentlemen.

He spoke to me on the mouth, he gave me a bracelet,
tell the oak tree that I won’t return.
He kissed me on the mouth, he offered his bed,
tell my mother that I won’t return.

My mother told me, “You shouldn’t play
with the Gypsies in the woods.”
But the woods were dark, the grass already green,
there came Sally with a tambourine.

Rimini grew out of De André's disappointments with the political events of the previous couple of years. In close collaboration with Massimo Bubola, a young 24-year-old who had just released his first album, De André explored several social and political themes, including abortion, homosexuality, and how the petite bourgeoisie attempted to move into the ranks of the powerful and rise above the political and social turmoil of the times. The music has more influence from American rock and pop music than previous albums, and includes his first forays into ethnic music, which will eventually come to full fruition in his masterpiece album Crêuza de mä.

"Zirichiltaggia" is in the Gallurese dialect of Sardinia and tells the true story of two brothers arguing over their inheritance. De André lived on Sardinia from the late 1970s on and was fascinated by its culture. A zirichiltaggia may also be something like a community center in Sardinia where locals gather, discussing politics and social affairs:

Brother 1:

Of that which Papa left us,
the best part you took for yourself -
the pink hill with the cork,
the Sorcine cows and the big bull -
and you left me stones, rockrose and lizards.

Brother 2:

But you held for yourself the stream and the house
and everything that was inside,
the Butirra pears and the cultivated garden,
and after six months that I was away
it seemed like a bombed out cemetery.

Brother 1:

You went away to live with the gentlemen,
being commanded by your wife,
and you spent all of Papa’s money
on sweets, medicines and magazines,
so that your little son at four years
already had sunglasses.

Brother 2:

My wife lives as a gentlewoman
and my son knows more than a thousand words.
Yours milks from morning to night
and your daughters are stained with dirt and with muck
and they will go to marry some shepherd servants.

Brothers 1 and 2?

And you, when you departed as a soldier
you cried like a little baby.
And from the fathers of your lovers
your brother saved you.
And if your remaining courage
is always that, we'll see in the plaza
who has the hard head,
and in the meantime kiss my ass.

Rimini grew out of De André's disappointments with the political events of the previous couple of years. In close collaboration with Massimo Bubola, a young 24-year-old who had just released his first album, De André explored several social and political themes, including abortion, homosexuality, and how the petite bourgeoisie attempted to move into the ranks of the powerful and rise above the political and social turmoil of the times. The music has more influence from American rock and pop music than previous albums, and includes his first forays into ethnic music, which will eventually come to full fruition in his masterpiece album Crêuza de mä.

The shipwreck of the London Valour was an actual event that took place in Genoa in 1970. But the focus in this song is on the people who came out to the Genoa docks to rubber neck and watch the unfolding tragedy in morbid fascination. The lyrics are somewhat obtuse, with many possible references to political events and cultural figures from Italy's Years of Lead, (the late 1960's to the early 1980's), which were marked by tremendous social upheaval and terrorism.

The seamen are digesting coca leaves on deck,
the captain has a lover ‘round his neck,
just in from England.
The confectioner of Via Roma is descending the stairs,
every dozen steps he finds a hand to step on.
He has a toy whip under his tea coat.

And the radio on board is a crystal sphere,
it says the wind will becomee a wolf,
the sea will become a jackal.
The paraplegic holds in his pocket a little bird, cobalt blue.
He laughs with his eyes, at the Togni Circus,
when the acrobat fails his leap.

And the anchors lost the bet and their hold,
the seamen, seagull eggs, rained on the rocks.
The Methodist poet has rose thorns in his paws
to make peace with the acclaim, to feel more distant,
his star eclipsed
ever since he won the weightlifting contest.

And with a tongue click,
the cable parts from the bank,
steals the captain’s lover, entangling her waist.
The butcher, hands of silk,
gave himself a battle name.
He keeps, swaddled inside the refrigerator,
nine antiwar jawbones.
He has a bulletproof apron
between his newspaper and his vest.

And the confectioner and the poet
and the paraplegic and his blanket
met again on the dock,
with crossword puzzle smiles,
to nurse like a drink the captain
who shot himself in the eyes,
and by afternoon to forget him
with his pipes and his chessmen,
and they smelled secret agreements
in the innuendos and in the actions
against every kind of shipwreck or other revolutions.
And the butcher, hands of silk, handed out the munitions.

Rimini grew out of De André's disappointments with the political events of the previous couple of years. In close collaboration with Massimo Bubola, a young 24-year-old who had just released his first album, De André explored several social and political themes, including abortion, homosexuality, and how the petite bourgeoisie attempted to move into the ranks of the powerful and rise above the political and social turmoil of the times. The music has more influence from American rock and pop music than previous albums, and includes his first forays into ethnic music, which will eventually come to full fruition in his masterpiece album Crêuza de mä.